The US continues its support of the Saudis

The US Senate has rejected an effort to end support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and driven the country to the brink of famine, after an attempt by Congress to claw back its war powers from the executive branch. The US has backed the Saudi coalition, in that it has provided target intelligence to the bombing campaign and has assisted with refueling coalition bombers.

The Senate voted 55-44 on Tuesday against taking up the war powers resolution, which had been opposed by the Trump administration. The vote coincided with a White House meeting between Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, at which the president lauded US defense sales to Saudi Arabia.

Trump said. “Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation and they’re going to give the United States some of that wealth, hopefully, in the form of jobs, in the form of the purchase of the finest military equipment anywhere in the world.”

Radyha al-Mutawakel, chair of the Mwatana organization for human rights, said: “It is much cheaper to stop the war rather than the continuously buying and selling arms. There are no heroes in Yemen, just criminals and victims. Anyone that comes to Yemen says ‘you are not living you are dying’. People no longer have the resources for life.”